Inu High School
by lauralai08
Summary: Kagome is the unbearably shy new student at a mostly demon high school and Sesshomaru and Inuyasha are both determined to get to know her. SessXKag Possible citrus in later chapters.
1. First Day Jitters

A/N: I am still decently new at writing fan fiction, please be helpful, but no flames.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Inuyasha.

Chapter 1: First Day Jitters

Kagome Higurashi shuddered involuntarily as she approached her new high school. Her grandfather had died and left the family shrine to her mother's care, so they had moved once again, though hopefully for the last time. And now she was in the one region of Japan where demons openly lived among humans. New humans scared her enough without adding some of the frightful beings she could see wandering around the campus.

At the top of the stairs, perched on a rail, a young half demon suddenly looked up and almost fell off the rail. His friend searched to see what had so shocked his friend, violet eyes scanning the crowds. He finally spotted an anxious looking girl standing on the sidewalk as she surveyed the school with wide, nervous eyes.

"A nice spy, Inuyasha," he said jokingly as he appreciatively examined her short, slender frame and long black hair.

"Shut up, Miroku. I'm sure that your girlfriend would just love to overhear this conversation," he said before leaping off of the stairs and walking over to the girl. "Hi, I'm Inuyasha. You must be new here." She shyly nodded, averting her eyes while he spoke to her. "Do you need help finding anything?" he tried again.

"Uh…AP Calculus with Mr. Toshiro," she whispered, checking a schedule. Inuyasha whistled, impressed in spite of himself.

"This way. So are you a senior?" She shook her head. "Junior?" She nodded. "In AP Calculus? You are smart. You know, you never did tell me your name."

"Kagome Higurashi," she said, still whispering.

_What's with her? _He wondered. "What else do you have?'

She once again consulted her schedule. "AP Literature, Economics, AP Physics, Health, and Studio Art," she answered He whistled again.

"That's an impressive selection. Are you graduating early or something?" She shook her head again. "So what are you going to do senior year? Take a thousand electives?" She only shrugged, keeping her eyes averted from him as they walked. "Here it is. I'll see you later." He waved and left her in front of the door.

Kagome sharply inhaled and opened the door as the warning hell rang. The teacher assigned her a desk and she say quietly as other students began filing into the room. She kept her eyes on her desk as people sat around her, never looking up who see who say beside her.

"So are you new?" someone to her right asked. She nodded without looking up. I'm Sesshomaru Taisho." Kagome barely used her peripheral vision to glance at eh silver-haired demon.

"Kagome Higurashi," she whispered. She was thankful when the class began and she could go back to ignoring her classmates. She didn't see the boy's smirk at her shyness.

"What do you have next?" he asked the moment the bell rang.

"AP Literature," she answered.

_Does she ever use more than a whisper? _He wondered. "Me too. It's this way." She followed him back down the hall and up another. He entered a room and said, "Kaede, we have a new student," to the teacher. A kindly looking old woman stood to greet her.

"You must be Kagome. I am Kaede." Kagome nodded. "You're desk will be beside Sesshomaru." The teacher looked at her guide and nodded. Kagome followed him to the back of the room and sat in the desk he indicated.

"Hello. Who's this?" someone asked above her. To her left Kagome heard Sesshomaru growl. "Hi, sweetheart, I'm Koga. Who are you?" the voice asked. Kagome mumbled something—she wasn't sure what. "You gotta talk louder than that doll face. Even my hearing can't get that." Kagome could feel the stranger's eyes boring into her and she began to blush furiously under his scrutiny.

"Koga, please take your seat. I would like to begin my class," Kaede barked. He settled into the seat on her right. Kagome looked up to listen to the teacher talk. She jumped and almost fell out of her desk in surprise when a note landed on her lap. Kagome refused to even touch it.

Class ended and she to quickly leave, but Koga stepped in her way. "Now that wasn't very nice, was it? You could really break a gut's heart if you were trying," he said.

"I have to go," she mumbled, trying to step past him, but he headed her off again.

"Can I get a name, little darling?" he asked sweetly.

"Kagome Higurashi. Please let me pass," she said, feeling tears gather in her eyes as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Koga, why don't you stop harassing the poor girl and go find something better to do, like jump off the school," Sesshomaru's cool voice said from behind them. Kagome felt Koga tense before stepping away and vanishing into the crowd. "Do you need help finding anything else?" he asked kindly, walking slightly ahead of her to part the torrents of people.

"Economics?" she asked hopefully, somewhat losing her shyness with this boy.

"What's your schedule anyway?"

"AP Calculus, AP Literature, Economics, AP Physics, Health, and Studio Art," she answered. "I have fifth period lunch."

"Well, what do you know? You're with me until after lunch," he said amusedly. "You look a little young to be a senior," he remarked, looking at her round face and wide eyes.

"I'm a junior, and I skipped a grade a few years ago," she answered.

"Wow. You really are smart," he told her. "Here's Economics. It's not too bad once you get used to the teacher, Mr. Taisho." Her head jerked up and she looked at him questioningly. "Yes, it's my father." She nodded and went to the front desk.

"Higurashi? That's right," the teacher said, examining the memo that told him she was arriving. "Uh, pick an empty desk, I don't really hold to seating charts in here," he said before consulting his lesson plans. Kagome turned to face the room and find a desk. Sesshomaru waved at her from a back corner and she walked over to the desk beside him, looking at the floor the entire time.

"So are you always this quiet or is it just first-day jitters?" he asked good-naturedly. She shrugged and sat, placing her books in front of her. "Where did you come from?"

"The countryside outside of Tokyo," she mumbled, looking at him out of the corners of her eyes but refusing to make direct eye contact.

"That's a long way to come. Why did you move here, if you don't mind my asking?"

"My mother inherited the family shrine from my grandfather so we moved here so she could start managing it," she answered. Sesshomaru nodded and opened his notes as the bell rang.

His questioning continued after Economics and on to AP Physics. With each passing class period her voice became a little louder and once she looked up to meet Sesshomaru's eyes before hastily dropping them again. Her sentences became longer and she even asked a few questions of her own in return.

"So, would I be out of line to ask you to eat lunch with me?" he asked when Physics ended. Kagome barely shook her head and he smiled. "Very well then. Did you bring one or are you buying?"

"I have a lunch in my locker," she said quietly, but at least it wasn't a whisper.

"Then let's stop by your locker," he said cheerily, thrusting his hands into his pockets and walking with her to her locker. She quickly grabbed the brown bag and he escorted her to the cafeteria where a large number of students had already gathered. The noise blew Kagome away and she wanted to turn and run as what felt like everyone in the room turned to look at her. "Sit here and I'll be back in a second," he said, guiding her to a table that was on the less occupied side of the room and going to stand in the line.

For the first time Kagome looked up and truly examined her guide. He was very tall and slender with lean, wiry muscles. His silver hair framed his face in a messy, shaggy style with bangs that fell onto his cheeks. He was wearing a tight band T-shirt and jeans with a wallet chain on his back pocket and a pair of black and blue Converse.

"Hey, sweetheart," a familiar voice said. Kagome inwardly cringed as Koga slid into the space across from her. She stared resolutely at the table, not touching her lunch. "How has your day been?"

"Fine," she whispered, feeling very uncomfortable.

"Aw, come on. You can do better than that, gorgeous. How about a smile?" She didn't answer him. He reached across the table to try and tilt her face up to look at him. She jerked away from his hand and fell off of her seat. Several people turned to laugh as she disentangled her feet from the seat and pulled herself upright. She could feel a blush building in her cheeks as tears of embarrassment stung her eyes.

Before she could stand up on her own a strong hand had gently wrapped around her arm and lifted her to her feet as if she weighed nothing. She looked up into the smiling gold eyes of Sesshomaru.

"Koga, I thought I told you not to harass my new friend here," he spat. "And I believe that you are in my seat."

"We were just having a conversation," Koga said angrily.

"Well it looks to me like she doesn't want you here, so I suggest that you beat it." Several of Sesshomaru's friends had arrived and they all now surrounded the demon, who, defeated, stood and went to another table, casting an angry glance over his shoulder at them. "Kagome, I would like you to meet some of my friends. This is Kanna, her sister Kagura, her brother Naraku, and Jaken." They all smiled politely, but Kagome did not miss the slight disdain in their expressions as they eyed the plain human.

Kagome just listened to their conversations, only saying a few words when Sesshomaru spoke to her.

She was left to find her own way to Health and she clutched her books even more tightly as she was left alone for the first time that day. Even in that short a period of time she had become accustomed to the handsome demon's presence and felt even more vulnerable without him there than she had that morning when she had first arrived.

"Hey. Kagome, right?" Kagome looked up into Inuyasha's gold eyes. She nodded and wondered if he was related to Sesshomaru as she noted the striking resemblance between the two. "This is Sango and this is Miroku," he said, gesturing to the two people standing behind him.

Sango pushed past Inuyasha and happily wound her arm with Kagome's. "I know we'll be friends," she said happily, pulling her to a desk in the back of the room. "So your name was Kagome?"

That night Kagome lay in her new room at the shrine thinking. _At least I survived, _she thought.


	2. New Friends

Chapter 2: New Friends

"Kagome!" Kagome let a small smile slip as Sango waved to her from the steps. Her first week had come and gone faster than she would have thought possible and she was finally adjusting to her new surroundings. As Sango had predicted, they had quickly become good friends and she had been completely accepted into Inuyasha's circle, which also included a junior named Kikyo and a sophomore named Shippo. Kagome was still the youngest in the group, still fifteen years old.

Sesshomaru still stuck fast to her side throughout the entire morning, though she now ate lunch with Inuyasha, who turned out to be his half brother, instead of the arrogant group of demons that usually congregated around Sesshomaru.

Kagome walked up the stairs to where Sango comfortably lounged against Miroku. Someone brushed past her and Kagome shrank away from the contact. Sango sighed. Kagome was friendly enough around her, but the rest of the time she acted as though she was scared of everyone else.

"Good morning!" Sango said brightly. The corners of Kagome's mouth barely lifted in a delicate smile. "Dear, do you ever wear colors?" she suddenly asked. Today she was wearing a pair of black pants with gray pinstripes and gray shirt beneath a darker gray jacket. Sango had yet to see Kagome wear anything but conservative, but fashionable, clothes in varying shades of black, gray, white, and the occasional khaki.

Kagome shrugged and self-consciously fingered the material of her pants. "I have to get to class," she said. She left to go to Calculus where she knew Sesshomaru would be waiting for her.

"Good morning, Kagome," he said pleasantly when she approached.

"Hi, Sesshomaru," she said, a slight blush creeping into her cheeks. As nice as he was, for some reason she could not name she still felt very nervous around this boy. Maybe it was because of the aura she could feel every time she came within a few feet of him, or maybe it was simply that he was extraordinarily handsome.

"How was your weekend?"

"I spent it finishing unpacking," she answered.

He raised his eyebrows and said, "Well, that sounds like fun." She flashed one of her tiny smiles at him and he suddenly reached forward to push a few strands of hair behind her ear. Kagome froze and her cheeks flamed. Thankfully the bell rang and she all but ran to her desk.

Sesshomaru walked slowly and calmly to his desk, cursing himself and wondering at her behavior. The former was because he knew that she did not like to be touched in any way, the latter because instead of looking annoyed, as he would have expected, she had looked frightened. He had even been able to smell trace amounts of fear rolling off of her for a moment.

She was sitting tensely in her desk looking even more anxious than she had her first day of school. He leaned over to her and whispered, "I'm sorry. I forgot that you don't like it when people touch you." She glanced at him with wide eyes before nodding and relaxing slightly.

Midway through the class she passed him a note. Surprised, Sesshomaru quickly opened it and read: _I don't understand what's going on. He's covering things you did before I was here._ Today was the chapter review and she had only been there to learn the last three sections of the chapter.

He quickly wrote back: _If you want you can eat lunch with me or come over to my house after school and I'll help you catch up. _Kagome read this note and felt her stomach sink. She hated eating with his friends, but the thought of going to his house terrified her. She finally chose the lesser of two evils and wrote back: _I'll see you at lunch._ He nodded and threw the note in the trashcan behind his desk.

Much to her delight, Sesshomaru sat a few seats away from her friends at lunch so that she wouldn't have to endure the company of his posse.

"I didn't know that you were friends with my brother," Inuyasha said when they had all entered health.

"He was my guide on my first day," she answered. "He's helping me catch up in Calculus." Inuyasha nodded absently as they sat in their desks.

"Hey, Kagome. Kikyo is having a party this weekend and she said that the invitation is extended to you if you're interested," Sango said before the class started.

"A party? I don't know, Sango," she said uncertainly.

"Oh, come on. You need to get used to people eventually. We can go shopping and find something bright and colorful for you to wear and you can sleep over at my house after. Please!" Sango begged, wanting to give her new friend a makeover more than anything.

"I guess…" "Yes! Thank you!" Sango exclaimed the moment Kagome gave in.

_A party? What am I supposed to do at a party? _She thought anxiously.

Two days later Sango drove her to the mall after school and dragged her into her favorite store. "I can't wear anything in here!" Kagome said, voice rising to what most would consider a normal volume, but what Sango knew to be yelling.

"Why not? This is pretty and it's decently modest," Sango said, pulling a sparkly green top off of a rack. Kagome eyed in reproachfully and looked at the displays around the walls. "I promise that we will find you something that is still conservative, but slightly more festive. Okay?" Kagome hesitated before nervously nodding.

After two hours of trying things on and rejecting piece after piece Kagome chose a dark red V-neck, short-sleeved sweater and a pair of glittery black jeans with black rhinestones on the pockets.

"You should come over before the party and let me do your make-up!" Sango squealed excitedly as they left the store. Kagome looked slightly alarmed and Sango quickly reassured her that she would keep it simple.

_Now there's nothing to do but wait for Friday._


	3. New Experiences

A/N: Thank you to all who reviewed this.

Disclaimer: I sadly do not own the characters of Inuyasha.

* * *

Chapter 3: New Experiences

"Stop fussing, Kagome," Sango said as she put the finishing touches in her young friend's make-up. Knowing Kagome would be the youngest person at the party Sango had very purposefully tried to make her look older, and she had greatly succeeded. Kagome was wearing some light eyeliner and darker eye shadow and dark red lipstick. Sango then tied her hair up in a loose knot with tendrils falling around her face and a pair of chopsticks stuck in it.

Sango finally decided that she had finished and stepped back so Kagome could see herself in the mirror. Her eyes widened in shock and her hands began to twitch nervously. "Sango, I don't know if I can do this," she whispered.

"What's wrong? Why do people scare you so much?"

"I guess it's just that we were always moving when I was little. I was always the new kid and I never really made friends. And then I skipped a grade so on top of being the new kid I was also younger than everybody. I just never really developed people skills," Kagome answered.

"Well no one here cares about your age and we all want you to join in the fun. It is time to get used to having friends," Sango said with a smile. Kagome uneasily smiled back at her before pulling on a pair of high heels and walking with Sango out to Sango's Mustang.

Music throbbed while people danced and yelled at each other over the stereo. Kagome wanted to run, but Inuyasha was waiting just inside the door. He instantly ushered her to an upstairs game room where Miroku and Shippo were locked in a pool match.

It was quieter up here and there were less people, but Kagome still felt overwhelmed. None of her friends wasted any time in telling her how fabulous she looked, which made her feel somewhat better.

Unbeknownst to her, Sesshomaru walked by the door and was stopped dead in his tracks by the sight of her. Kagome had always been pretty, but now she looked absolutely stunning. Sympathy swelled within him when he also noticed now awkward and uncomfortable she looked.

Inuyasha seemed to notice the same thing right then. He leaned over so Kagome could hear him more easily and asked if she wanted to go outside. She looked utterly relieved and gladly followed him out of the room and into the backyard. Curious as to what his half-brother was up to Sesshomaru followed them.

"Are you feeling okay? You look a little stressed," Inuyasha asked her.

"I'm fine. It's just so noisy," she answered in her usual quiet tone. Without his demon hearing Sesshomaru probably would not have heard her.

"You know, if by some miracle you have fun tonight, would you consider maybe getting something to eat or seeing a movie with me sometime?" Inuyasha asked after a moment. Sesshomaru fought to suppress a growl. _Say no, _he silently begged.

"Maybe," she said, the lights from the house barely illuminating the blush that spread across her face. "Let's go find Sango," she said after another minute's pause. Inuyasha nodded and led her back into the house.

"Damn it," Sesshomaru muttered under his breath before reentering the party as well.

"Hello there, handsome," a seductive voice said. Sesshomaru clenched his teeth in annoyance and turned to glare at the demon behind him.

"What do you want Kagura?" he asked.

"Now that's not very friendly, is it?" she purred, running a hand along his arm. Sesshomaru yanked himself away from her and stepped back.

"I told you no," he said. Kagura had been after them since they were freshman and, despite the fact that he had always turned her down and never encouraged her actions, she continued to pursue him. "Not now, not ever."

"You're just a spoilsport," she pouted. "It's my birthday tomorrow, you could always give me a present." Sesshomaru rolled his eyes and walked upstairs, wanting to be away from her and her bile.

"Sesshomaru?" He turned and smiled at Kagome. "Why are you here?"

"Kikyo is dating Naraku. Naturally all of my friends were invited to this little get-together, so I had to come or risk their displeasure." The corners of her mouth raised in her equivalent of laughing out loud. "Are you having a good time? You didn't seem like the party type."

"I'm not. I'm enjoying myself, it's just so crowded," she said. "And I'm really tired, but I can't leave until Sango does."

"I have an idea. Why don't we go get coffee or something, and when Sango leaves she can call you and I'll drop you off at her house," he offered. The relieved look in Kagome's eyes was all he needed to find Sango and tell her the plan. Sango nodded, casting a questioning look at Kagome, and turned back to scolding Miroku for suggestively dancing with one of the cheerleaders.

Sesshomaru led Kagome out of the house and to his waiting Corvette. He opened the door for her and then settled into the driver's seat. "You look really nice," he said as they pulled away from the curb.

"Thank you," she said, looking at her lap and blushing. She thought he looked nice too, but would never be able so say that. He was wearing a black shirt that was only buttoned up halfway to show the tank top he wore underneath and a pair of black jeans.

Sesshomaru drove them to his favorite coffee house. The coffee was good and it was small and out of the way so he knew she wouldn't be too anxious being there.

"Why did you come to the party?" he asked. "Anyone who looked at you could tell you weren't very happy."

"I had a nice enough time," she lied. "I don't know why I went. I guess I was just happy to be invited. I've never really had friends before." Sesshomaru nodded and changed the subject to something she would be more comfortable with. They sat and talked for over two hours before Sango called and said that she was leaving. Sesshomaru dropped Kagome off at Sango's house before driving off.

"Where did you two go?" Sango asked suspiciously.

"Coffee. I just needed to get away from that house," she confessed. "It was fun, it was just too much." Sango nodded in understanding.

"So, do you like Sesshomaru then?" she asked.

"Sango!" Kagome whined, letting a small chuckle escape her lips. "Actually I think Inuyasha asked me on a date," she said after a moment.

"What?!" Sango shrieked, bursting into fits of laughter. "Oh that's great."

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, I'm just surprised. Kikyo sort of broke Inuyasha's heart last year. I didn't think he'd ever get over it," she said. Kagome smiled at her before going to take a shower.

"You ready?" Inuyasha asked when he arrived at the shrine the next weekend. Kagome blushed and nodded, stepping onto the porch and closing the door. "You look really nice," he said helpfully.

"Thank you," she said as they walked to his car. "Where are we going?"

"Just dinner," he said. "Nothing too fancy, but still somewhere quiet." Kagome smiled appreciatively. The restaurant was small and casual with only a few customers seated around the room. "Have you ever been on a date before?" he asked her when they sat down. She shook her head and felt yet another blush creep up her face. Inuyasha chuckled and then started perusing the menu.

"Kagome?" She looked up at him midway through their meal to listen to him. "I was wondering…I know that we just met each other and everything, but I wanted to know if you maybe wanted to make a habit out of this?" Kagome looked confused. "Okay, what I'm trying to ask is will you be my girlfriend?" Her eyes widened in shock.

She thought it over so long he was afraid that she might refuse, but then she suddenly gave a slight nod. He grinned from ear to ear before returning to his food.

"I don't suppose you kiss on the first date," he said when he walked her to her door after they were done. Her eyes widened again and her cheeks instantly turned crimson. She looked anxious and Inuyasha said, "It's okay, Kagome. You don't have to." She relaxed and he asked, "Can I at least have a hug?" She nodded and smiled before standing on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around his neck. "I'll see you at school."

_I have a boyfriend? What crazy parallel universe have I just stepped into? _She thought anxiously as she entered her house. 


	4. Snowed In

Chapter 4: Snowed In

Sesshomaru stared at the ceiling of his bedroom and cursed. Kagome and Inuyasha had been together for two months and he had yet to accept it. And now she was coming to their house for dinner that night. How was he supposed to act normal and pretend he wasn't upset with her sitting a few feet away? He was just grateful that it was the winter break. He didn't have to see her everyday and he could change his schedule when they went back to school so that he wouldn't be in all of her classes.

"Sesshomaru? Come downstairs, they're here," his stepmother called. He swore at the air before rolling out of his bed and walking down to the living room where Kagome and Inuyasha were entering from the foyer.

"Kagome, this is my mother, Izayoi, and you know my father and my half-brother," Inuyasha said. "Mom, this is Kagome." They all smiled and greeted each other.

"It's so nice to finally meet you," Izayoi said. "We've heard so much about you." Kagome ducked her head shyly.

"Thank you," she said. "Your house is really beautiful." And it was. The Taisho family lived in a colossal mansion on the outskirts of the town. Gardens and trees surrounded it. The inside was mostly hardwood floors and paneled walls with flower vases and paintings all over the place and colorful rugs across the floors.

"Thank you, dear. Well, dinner is ready if we're all hungry," Izayoi said. "This way." They all moved into a large dining room and sat down to eat. By some cruel trick of fate, Sesshomaru wound up in the seat beside Kagome while Inuyasha sat across from her beside his mother. The conversation flowed easily around Kagome, who rarely said anything unless someone asked her a direct question.

"Oh, damn," Mr. Taisho said when he looked out the window during dinner. They all looked out and Kagome shuddered. Snow was falling in a think curtain and several inches of it already blanketed the ground. "I don't think we can drive through that. Kagome, you may want to call your mother and let her know you have to stay until this is over."

Sesshomaru saw her tense and shudder, looking rather terrified. "It's okay, we don't bite," he told her quietly. She jumped and looked at him as if she hadn't realized he was there.

"What? Oh…right. I know, I'm sorry," she said with her brief smile. "I'm going to call my mom." She pulled her cell phone out of her purse and stepped into the next room. Her mom was worried, but thankful that they would let her stay until it was safe to travel. "My mom says thank you for keeping me, and so do I," she said when she reentered the room.

"It's no trouble at all. Now ask Inuyasha to show you the TV and the movie collection while I take care of all these dishes," Izayoi said with a smile.

"Do you want me to help? It's the least I could do-" "Nonsense. I have a maid who will help me. Go have fun with the boys," she said cheerily. Right on cue, a maid entered at that exact moment and started stacking plates.

"Come on," Inuyasha said, wrapping an arm around her waist and dragging her to the home theater in the basement. Sesshomaru wasn't sure if he could stand to be around them, but he followed nonetheless. "That shelf is movies, pick one and we'll watch it, no matter what it is." Sesshomaru flopped down on a couch in the corner while Inuyasha sat on another one and Kagome examined their movies.

She finally decided on "Win a Date With Tad Hamilton". Inuyasha groaned before laughing and saying, "I did say whatever you chose didn't I? I dug my own grave with that one."

"Do you want me to choose another one?" she asked meekly.

"Of course not. I said whatever you chose, that includes chick flicks. Sit down." Kagome sat on the couch beside him and Inuyasha wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She lightly rested her head against his shoulder as the movie started.

Sesshomaru knew very quickly that he wasn't going to be able to sit through the movie. The movie was about a shy, small town girl who falls in love with one guy while her love struck best friend helplessly watches. He glanced at Inuyasha and Kagome quietly talking on the couch and back at a hapless Topher Grace on the screen then stood and left.

Kagome noticed, but she didn't want to say anything. It really wasn't her business where he was going, no matter how curious she was. Inuyasha suddenly leaned over and lightly pressed his lips against hers. They had kissed for the first time two weeks ago and now he stole quick peck whenever he could edge them in, trying to slowly pull her out of her shell. She smiled and kissed him back.

Sesshomaru returned ten minutes later to find them all over each other as Inuyasha gladly kissed his girlfriend. His stomach seemed to drop to his knees and he quickly left, unable to believe what he had just seen. Kagome was _not _open enough to kiss people, Inuyasha had told him so a few weeks ago. What happened? Sesshomaru had hoped that after a few weeks his usually brash younger brother would scare her off and he would be able to ask her out, but it seemed that they were getting more and more involved each passing week.

Inuyasha broke his kiss with Kagome and kissed her neck. Her eyes snapped open and she quickly stood up. "Sorry," he said. "I just got carried away."

"I'm really tired," she said quietly.

"The guest room is upstairs. Do you want sweat pants or something to sleep in?" he asked, resigning himself to the fact that he would get nowhere else with her tonight. She nodded and he led her to the third floor of the house to his room. He passed her a pair of his pajamas and a t-shirt before showing her to the room she would stay in.

Kagome touched her lips and shifted uncomfortably. She liked kissing Inuyasha, but something still bothered her about it. Her last thought as she drifted off to sleep was wondering how long she would have to stay in this house.

She was there three days. The more time she had to spend in close quarters with Inuyasha, the uneasier she was with their relationship. She told herself that it was because she had never dated anyone before and she was just scared, but she was still having problems.

"Hi," Sesshomaru said. "Sorry to disturb you." He had stumbled across her sitting alone in the library when he came to look for a book his father had recommended.

"It's your house," she mumbled.

"And you're our guest," he answered. "These have been interesting circumstances for your first visit to the house, though." She nodded and released a slight chuckle. "Did you just laugh?" he asked incredulously. Kagome shrugged and turned the page of the book she was holding. "In case you want to know the blizzard stopped and the streets are being cleared as we speak. You'll go home today, tomorrow afternoon at the latest." She nodded. "Are you okay? It seems like something has been bothering you for the last few days."

"I'm okay. It's just…"

"Just what?" he prompted.

"It's strange seeing the way Inuyasha is at home. He seems so different here than at school," she finally confessed. "He's bossier and more distant. I know that it's weird having me here all the time, but it's also weird to know that he's different from the way I know him." Sesshomaru's heart fluttered as she spoke. Had it happened? Was Inuyasha chasing her away?

"Most people have at least two sides you know," he told her. "You don't seem like you do, but most people." She smiled at him. She knew she acted the same everywhere she was; she was always shy and quiet.

"Do you?" she asked.

"I don't know. Do I act differently here than at school?"

"Not around me," she said.

"Then maybe I don't. Just so long as you like the one side." He inwardly cringed at what he had said and she turned back to her book, blushing furiously. "You can borrow that if you don't get to finish it," he said before getting his own book and leaving the room.

"It certainly was interesting having your brother's girlfriend as a house guest," Izayoi remarked as she and Sesshomaru watched the car containing Mr. Taisho, Inuyasha, and Kagome drive away. "She's such a nice girl, but so quiet. I suppose she's better than Kikyo, though." Sesshomaru shrugged. "Are you okay, Sesshomaru? You've been acting very strangely for the last few days."

"It's nothing," he said. "I'm going to go read my book." Izayoi watched him go with worry in her eyes. She had recognized it from the moment that Kagome had entered the house that Sesshomaru was in love with her son's girlfriend. She just prayed that it would not become another point of contention with her constantly feuding son and stepson.


	5. Party Favors

Chapter 5: Party Favors

"Good morning, beautiful," Inuyasha said happily when she walked up to the school. Kagome smiled happily with barely a blush touching her face. Inuyasha, Sango, and Kagome's mother had happily watched as her shyness gradually faded. She was still very quiet, but she no longer seemed to be afraid of everyone around her. She had even allowed Sango to give her a bunch of clothes in various bright colors. The only person who was not happy with the change was Sesshomaru, and that was only because Inuyasha was the cause of it and he was not.

Because of his numerous AP courses he had only been able to change his Calculus class, so he still had to sit beside her for three classes every morning.

"Sesshomaru?" she said as she sat down in Literature. "I don't know if you knew I was in Studio Art, but I was wondering…. there's an art show this Friday night and I have a display set up. Do you think you would be interested in coming?" It was on the tip of his tongue to say no, but he made the mistake of looking at her. She looked so hopeful.

"I suppose I'm not doing anything. What time is it?" A huge smile crossed her face and she quickly told him the time that it started before the class began.

"Now class," Kaede began. "We are starting American poetry today. The largest grade you will receive for this quarter will be a project done on the poem of your choice with a partner that I will allow you to choose. Do not make me regret letting you decide things. For this project you will choose any poem written between 1850-1950. You will write a biography of the author, tell what period the piece was written in, the characteristics of literature from that time period, and then you will teach the class about how the author uses literary elements in his or her poem to convey the meaning. You will have three weeks. Open your books to page five hundred and forty-nine and we will begin."

Kagome waited all class for Sesshomaru to ask her to be his partner, but it never happened. She didn't want to ask him, but when he hadn't asked by the start of Economics she knew she was going to have to do it. She clenched her teeth and then caught up to him in the lunchroom.

"Sesshomaru? Do you have a partner for the Lit project?" she asked. He silently swore. She really had changed if she was willing to ask him. He had hoped she would be too scared to do it and would leave him be. He shook his head 'no' at her and she swallowed anxiously before squaring her shoulders and asking, "Will you be mine?" He had no choice but to nod. She smiled and relaxed before going to sit with Inuyasha.

"Kagome, I was thinking about having a party at the mansion on Saturday night, what do you think? Are you interested?" Inuyasha asked when she sat down. "Your show is on Friday, right?" She nodded.

"It's your mansion," she said. "I guess I could try to go to another party." They all nodded happily and returned to eating their respective lunches.

* * *

Sesshomaru walked casually through the dozens of displays. The ones at the front of the school's gymnasium were from the particularly talented students from the more basic art classes. He walked past rows of photographs and paintings and even a few sculptures before arriving at the back six tables that belonged to the Studio Art class.

And there was Kagome right in the center of it all. On the table in front of her were a few small sculptures and several six by six inch canvases with small paintings. To either side of the table were tall stands that each held three paintings and there were four more large ones hanging on the wall behind her. And they were amazing. The one that caught his attention was the center painting on her right. It was on a twenty-four by thirty-two inch canvas and it was a picture of swirling silver clouds above and endless ocean with a pair of dreamy gold eyes faintly etched in the center.

"Wow. I am impressed. Not only are you one of the smartest people I know but you are also one of the most talented artists I have ever seen. I really like this one," he said indicating the eyes. He looked at the card in the corner of it and smiled. "This was painted two days after you arrived." Before she had become friends with Inuyasha.

"Uh, yes, yes it was," she said awkwardly, her old blush flaring up. "What can I say? You have nice eyes."

"Thank you. I'm flattered to be the inspiration for such a fine piece of art. I assume that you are attending Inuyasha's party tomorrow night."

"Yeah. Anyways, I have to return that book to you. It was very good," she said as the awkward moment faded.

"You may borrow anything you choose," was all he said as he examined a small painting of a blood red rose. "These are very good. If I paid you, would you paint something for me?"

"I suppose. It depends on what it is. There are a few things I am not very good at painting," she answered.

"Has my half-brother been here, yet?" Sesshomaru asked. Kagome hesitated then shook her head, shoulders slumping sadly. _Odd. He was supposed to come over an hour ago, _Sesshomaru thought. At that moment someone else came to look at her things and Kagome withdrew her attention from him to answer a woman's question about one of her sculptures.

* * *

Kagome paced in front of her door, still waiting. Inuyasha was half an hour late, which was very unlike him. Sango had told Kagome that if he weren't there in another ten minutes then she would come pick her up instead. Inuyasha had been making plans for this party all week; all of them included his picking her up at seven o'clock so he could be back before the bulk of his guests started to arrive.

Fifteen minutes later Sango pulled up in front of her house and Kagome quickly jumped into her Mustang. Kagome was very reserved, but Sango had gotten very good at reading her friend's emotions and she could tell that Kagome was mad. No…she was livid. "First he missed my show and then he forgot to pick me up," she said evenly, but Sango could hear the suppressed tremor in her voice. "Where has he been for the last two days?"

"I don't know. He told me yesterday that he was picking you up tonight. I have no idea what could have come up, unless something went horribly wrong with his party plans."

"In which case he should have called me."

"Good point," Sango answered. Several people had already arrived at the house by the time that Sango parked beside the curb. When they got inside Kagome couldn't find Inuyasha anywhere. People were constantly arriving and in a matter of minutes the lower floor of the mansion was packed.

"Where is he? I can't believe that he would do this to me!" Kagome half-yelled, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Sango was shocked. She had never seen Kagome look so emotional.

Sesshomaru head her from across the room and bit his lip. He had walked in the night before to find Kikyo leaving the house and absolutely reeking of his idiot half-brother. But as much as he wanted to tell her, something told him that this was something she needed to see for herself; he would just be sure he was there to catch her when everything crashed.

"Well hello," a smooth voice said. Kagome spun and almost swore out loud even though she had never done so before in her life. "I haven't talked to you in awhile, little darling," Koga said, leaning against the wall and smirking arrogantly at her.

"Go away, Koga," she muttered, wanting absolutely nothing to do with the obnoxious demon.

"Where's your boyfriend? Don't tell me that you're single now. So, about next weekend—" "I think she told you to go away," Sango interrupted, stepping between him and Kagome. Koga looked down at her with no small amount of annoyance. "And you are…?"

"Sango. Kagome's best friend," she snapped. "And Kagome told you to go away." Kagome looked at Sango appreciatively.

"And I want you out of my house. I have no idea why you are here, but I know that you were not invited," Sesshomaru said coldly. "Leave." Sesshomaru was several inches taller and just as muscular as Koga, leaving him no option but to comply. Koga huffed out of the room and Kagome quietly snuck away, determined to find her boyfriend.

She eventually wandered upstairs. She had concluded that Inuyasha was not there and had decided to pass the rest of the night reading after returning her current book to their well-stocked shelves. As she was walking to the library Kagome heard a lot of giggling and then a passion-filled moan. Knowing what she would see but not wanting to believe it, Kagome turned a corner and saw that Inuyasha's bedroom door was cracked open. Another moan escaped through that crack and Kagome went and put her eye to it.

All she could see were a silver-haired boy and a dark-haired girl thrashing around in Inuyasha's king-size bed. The girl let out another low moan and a slight giggle and Inuyasha growled in satisfaction.

"You don't need to see this," Sesshomaru whispered, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her away from the door. She numbly followed him to the library, still not wanting to believe what she had seen. The first boy she had ever dated and one of the first people she had ever really trusted had betrayed her in the worst possible way. "I'm sorry, Kagome," Sesshomaru said quietly, sitting in a chair across from her.

"Who was it?" she whispered.

"Kikyo," he answered sadly. Sesshomaru cursed the two idiots who were so blissfully screwing around on the floor below them. Naraku had found out the night before and punched clear through his bedroom wall and now Kagome was beginning to cry.

"Why? What did I do wrong, Sesshomaru?" she asked as another tear fell down her face. Sesshomaru quickly leaned forward and wiped it away. She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't even notice.

"You did nothing wrong. This wasn't your fault, Kagome," he said. "You were always too good for him." She looked at him hopelessly.

"Really? It doesn't feel like it," she said, slumping against the back of the couch in utter defeat. Sesshomaru moved from sitting across from her to sit beside her. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she leaned over to cry bitterly into his shoulder. "I should've dated you," she said, her distress making her unusually blunt.

"I think so, too," he answered, equally frank. She looked up at him in surprise. She suddenly realized what they both had said and she looked down in horror while furiously blushing. He reached around with his other arm to turn her face back to him. "Look at me for once." She looked at him anxiously as he ran his thumb across her cheek. "He never deserved you. I hope that you realize that. I'll give you a ride whenever you want to leave," he said sadly before standing to leave.

"Wait," she said, grabbing his shirt before he could move too far away. He turned back to her in surprise. The Kagome he knew would not even have had the courage to ask him to stay, let alone grab him. Something really had changed in the months she had been with Inuyasha. "I don't want you go."

"Then what do you want, Kagome?" Suddenly he burst out, "You are one of the most infuriating people that I know. You're too nervous to even look me in the eyes, yet you want me to be around you." He paused for a moment and looked around at the floor-to-ceiling shelves and their contents. "What is it about this room that makes me say what I'm thinking to you? The last time we were in here I told you that I wanted you to like me, now I'm telling you that I like you." He gave a short laugh. Kagome was looking at her lap, not knowing how to react to his ramblings or his sudden outburst.

"I don't know what to say."

"Tell me what you're thinking? You never say anything about anything. For once would you just say what you're thinking?" he snapped, pacing in front of her. He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. She looked at him for a moment before looking back down. "Look at me, damn it." She looked up and met his eyes.

Before he even knew what he was doing Sesshomaru walked across the room and knelt in front of her before leaning up to her face and kissing her. Kagome's eyes widened in shock. Sesshomaru smelled a small amount of fear roll away from her, but it was short lived as she suddenly relaxed and leaned into him, savoring the sensation as much as he was.

It suddenly clicked with Kagome that this was why kissing Inuyasha had felt so strange. It was because she wanted to be kissing Sesshomaru. He wrapped one hand around the back of her head and licked her bottom lip, silently begging her let him in. She barely parted her lips, but he gladly took advantage of it.

Someone opened the door and snapped at Sesshomaru. He looked up to glare at the intruder while a beet red Kagome looked away from the door. "This is all very cozy, but you might want to wrap it up before Inuyasha heads this way," Miroku said. He had known about Inuyasha's infidelity and was glad to see that Kagome had someone other than his idiot friend. Kagome quickly stood to leave.

"I said I would drive you home, let me get my keys," Sesshomaru said. She nodded and they left together, Sesshomaru's arm never leaving its vice-like grip on her waist.

_I don't care what happens, she's mine, _he thought with a growl. _She had better break up with him. I'm not losing her ever again. _


	6. Relationships

**A/N:** Sorry it took me so long to update this. School started back and I just haven't had a lot of time to work on anything other than homework. I'll try to update this more regularly. Thanks to everyone who read and commented this story.

Chapter 6: Relationships

"What do you mean you're breaking up with me?!" Inuyasha shrieked. Kagome bit her lip and reminded herself that she had known that there would be a confrontation.

"I mean that I saw you with Kikyo and it is over," she answered quietly.

"With—with Kikyo? But I wasn't…. when?" he stuttered. Kagome could tell just from the panicked look in his eyes that he was guilty.

"At your party. You missed my art show and you didn't pick me up on Saturday and it was all so that you could sleep with your ex-girlfriend. As far as I'm concerned that means we're done."

Inuyasha was about to open his mouth to protest again when Sesshomaru's smooth voice asked, "Problems?"

"Nothing that concerns you," Inuyasha snapped.

"Okay then. You ready to go?" Kagome nodded and Sesshomaru wrapped an arm around her waist and they walked to class, leaving behind an incredulous hanyou.

"Kagome, the word is that you're single now," Koga said the moment she walked into AP Literature. "What are you doing this Saturday?"

"Working on my project," she answered.

"Koga, how many times do I have to tell you to leave Kagome alone?" Sesshomaru demanded from behind her. "The next time that I have to tell you I will…reinforce the message. Get lost." Kagome smiled up at Sesshomaru and sat at her desk.

"Is there any chance that you would want to discuss this poem over dinner?" Sesshomaru asked uncertainly as he sat beside her.

"Are you asking me on a date?" Kagome asked, furiously blushing. Sesshomaru nodded. "Okay. We decided on 'The Road Not Taken', right?" Sesshomaru nodded again before Kaede cleared her throat and the class began. Koga had heard the entire exchange and now glared resentfully at Sesshomaru from his seat across the room. On several occasions he had wanted nothing more than to fight the young demon, but Sesshomaru was one of the most powerful demons at the school and came from the wealthiest, most respected family in the western district.

Mr. Taisho watched as Kagome and Sesshomaru walked into his classroom and had to resist hitting his head on the desk. His sons were always fighting and he had seen from day one that Kagome was going to cause even more trouble between them. It seemed that it had finally happened and now all he could do was wait for all hell to break loose between his sons. "Sesshomaru, I want to speak with you after class." His son nodded respectfully before sitting at his desk.

"I'll see you at lunch," he whispered to Kagome before approaching his father's desk at the end of class. "You wanted to see me, father?"

"What happened with Kagome and Inuyasha?"

"What makes you think anything happened?" Sesshomaru asked.

"I am not blind, Sesshomaru. When you two walked in here you looked as though you'd been together for weeks when I've never even seen her touch you before. Now what happened?" Mr. Taisho said plainly. "The longer it takes you to answer me the less time you get to spend with her at lunch."

Sesshomaru sighed and explained, "Kikyo came back and Inuyasha cheated on her. Father, you've known how much I liked her from the start. I was just there to catch her when it happened." Mr. Taisho inwardly swore over his young son's stupidity—trading in Kagome for someone like Kikyo!

"Be careful. I don't want you two boys fighting any more than usual. You may go." Sesshomaru bowed and left to go find Kagome. She was sitting at a small lunch table with Sango and Shippo. Jaken and Naraku waved to him from his usual table, but he ignored them and sat beside Kagome. Inuyasha glared at him from his own table where Kikyo was shamelessly hanging all over him. Inuyasha pushed her off and stalked out of the cafeteria.

In Health Inuyasha was waiting just inside the door. "Can we talk about this?" he begged.

"There's nothing to talk about," she answered.

"You broke up with me. There's obviously something to talk about," he said as she walked to her seat.

"Call me later then, just leave me alone," she said as she sat down. She did not want to talk to the half-demon just then.

"Thank you. I will call you tonight," Inuyasha said with a smile. "Thank you."

"You're going out with him again?" Sesshomaru asked, feeling like he might cry.

"It's not official, but we talked for almost two hours last night and I agreed to give him a second chance," Kagome said apologetically. Sesshomaru's crush on her was now anything but secret and she felt bad for basically rejecting him, but she had been unable to argue with Inuyasha for that long.

"What is it going to take for you to realize that you shouldn't be with him? How many times is he going to have to break your heart before you just accept that? Did you even want to give him a second chance?" he demanded. They were sitting outside the school during lunch so no one would overhear their argument.

"At first I didn't, but then he started begging…" "Kagome, would you ever just go with what you want? I was under the apparently very wrong impression that you wanted me, but the first time he bats his eyelashes at you it changes. What do you want, Kagome?" She was torn. She knew that deep down what she wanted was Sesshomaru and she always had, but she couldn't bring herself to admit that to him or Inuyasha.

"Kagome look at me for a second." She looked up and met his eyes and forgot to breathe as he brushed her bangs out of her face. He noticed her reaction to him and nodded. "That's what I thought." He leaned forward and kissed her greedily; awareness that this may be the last time he ever got to do it flooding his mind. Kagome wrapped her arms around his neck as the rest of her went limp in his arms. Sesshomaru broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers. "Don't do this. Stay with me," he pleaded. Kagome looked down and he kissed her again. "Stay with me," he repeated.

Kagome bit her lip and nodded. Sesshomaru smiled the happiest smile he had ever had in his life as he bent down to capture her lips again. "I don't know what to say to your brother," she said nervously when Sesshomaru had finally managed to gather enough self-control to put her down.

"I'll go with you if you'd like," he offered.

"No, this is something I have to do on my own," she said quietly. "I just don't want to do it today."

"Let's get out of here. Please," he said. "I don't care where, but let's go somewhere." Kagome bit her lip again as she thought about it and then nodded. Sesshomaru took her hand and led her to the parking lot where his Corvette waited.

"Where are we going, anyways?" she asked.

"Well, we could go do something like see a movie, or we could just go hang out at my house. Neither of my parents will be home for a few hours." Kagome shrugged, letting him choose which one sounded the most appealing. "Let's go to my house, then. We actually eat lunch and watch a movie or something." She nodded and he raced out of the parking lot.

_Tomorrow with Inuyasha is certainly going to be unpleasant, _she thought before pushing thoughts of the half-demon completely from her mind. 


	7. More Party Favors

Chapter 7: More Party Favors

The knots in Sesshomaru's stomach were only just beginning to loosen when they reached his house. She had agreed to stay with him and he knew he should just leave it at that, but he was still angry that she had even considered leaving him, and for the first time in his life he was insecure. If she could go back to Inuyasha that easily, then how strongly did she actually feel about him? Did Kagome really even like him or was he just a rebound? Did she still like Inuyasha? "We're here," he told Kagome, who was too absorbed in her own thoughts to notice that they had stopped. She nodded and they got out of the car. "No one will be home for a few hours, so what do you want to do?"

"Can we just watch a movie or something?" she asked quietly. "I'm not really hungry." Sesshomaru nodded and wrapped an arm around her waist then led her into the house.

Within a few moments of turning on the TV, Sesshomaru knew he wouldn't be able to focus on the movie. Kagome was pressed against him with her head on his chest and her arm around his waist and his mind kept straying to places that he knew she would never follow him to. He was on the verge on losing control when his cell phone thankfully rang. He disentangled himself from the angel on his couch and stepped into the next room. He returned a moment later and sat beside her again. "That was Naraku. He's having a party tonight and I was wondering if you would consider being my date." Kagome shifted nervously—the last party she had gone to had not ended well. "Feel free to say no and I'll think of something else for us to do."

"No, it's okay, I'll go," she said a moment later. "But I have to go home and change clothes."

"Well, it doesn't start until seven and we probably won't go until eight, so don't feel rushed on that front," he said with a smile before turning back to the TV and wrapping an arm around her. She nodded. "Sango and Miroku are going as well, but don't worry, no Inuyasha or Kikyo." Kagome smiled and nodded again before resettling herself against him and once again directing her attention to the movie.

They had been watching for another few minutes when Sesshomaru couldn't stand it anymore and tilted her face up to his and kissed her. Kagome blushed, but didn't pull away as all of her muscles began to feel weak. Sesshomaru pulled her closer and deepened the kiss, licking her bottom lip and begging her to play along with him. She did and opened her mouth and he happily took advantage of it. He broke away from her mouth and kissed the side of her neck. Instead of pushing him away like she had Inuyasha, Kagome tilted her head to the side and a slight moan escaped her lips as he grazed his fangs along the side of her throat. Sesshomaru could barely contain himself and sharply pulled away from her as his eyes began to bleed red. Kagome was nowhere near ready for him to lose control with her and he knew that he had to stop then and there.

"Did I do something wrong?" she asked nervously. Sesshomaru sighed and placed a chaste kiss on her lips.

"No, you do everything too well," he said. She nodded in comprehension and settled back against him.

Sango came over to Kagome's house to get ready for the party that afternoon and was going to spend the night afterwards. "You need to look totally hot if you're going with Sesshomaru," Sango said as she examined Kagome's clothes. "This party is going to be almost all seniors and a lot of demons, so if I were you I would try and blend in," she warned when Kagome opened her mouth to protest. Kagome closed her mouth and sat on her bed, sulking, but knowing her friend was right. Sango sighed as she finished going through Kagome's clothes and said, "As I guessed, you'll have to wear something of mine. None of this is any good." Sango went over to the suitcase she had brought and removed the outfit that she had chosen for her friend.

Kagome's eyes widened to impossible proportions and she squealed when she saw it. "Absolutely not! There is no way that I am wearing that!" she snapped. Sango laughed and held it out to her. "I said no." Sango just gave her a long look and Kagome whimpered, "Please don't make me wear that."

"You will wear it, you will love it, you will look totally hot in it. Now go change." Kagome sighed and took the hangers into her bathroom to put it on.

"I don't think my bathing suit is this revealing," she complained when she came out.

"You're just over exaggerating. You look amazing. Make-up!" Kagome groaned as Sango pushed her into a chair. Sango knew that she was somewhat taking advantage of her friend's shyness and inability to say no to anyone, but she couldn't pass up having a life size Barbie doll. When she was done fussing over Kagome's looks Sango quickly saw to her own. Miroku was going to pick her up in half an hour and then Sesshomaru was going to come get Kagome shortly afterward. "Stop fussing, he'll love it," Sango told Kagome as she pulled at her clothes.

Miroku came and Sango left and Kagome was left to wait quietly and nervously for Sesshomaru. He arrived only a few minutes later and she felt her cheeks flame when she opened the door. It took all of Sesshomaru's will power to not let his stoic mask slip and his jaw drop when he saw Kagome. "Sango was here, wasn't she?" he asked, allowing some amusement to slip into his voice. Kagome wore a dark blue halter top that stopped just short of the waistband of her flowing, black mini-skirt. She was wearing black heels with several multi-colored stones on the straps and a small amount of make-up that made her already good looks really shine. "You look nice, though."

"Thanks," she said with an even brighter blush. He took her hand and led her back to his gorgeous red Corvette with white racing stripes. He opened the door for her and then quickly drove away to Naraku's house. Kagome could feel her stomach begin to sink the moment that they pulled up to the house. There were over twenty cars parked along the street and Kagome could feel the music vibrating from outside. The demonic auras from the party guests were almost suffocating her. The party had only been going for a little over an hour and there were already a few people passed out drunk in the driveway.

"Are you okay?" Sesshomaru asked her as they approached the house. She swallowed the lump she could feel growing in her throat and nodded then smiled for emphasis. "Okay then. Brace yourself, it will be loud." Sesshomaru opened the door and Kagome was almost knocked over by the sound of music and yelling and laughing. Unlike Sesshomaru she could not magically dampen her hearing and it took her several seconds to even remember where she was above the cacophony of sounds.

"Sess, man, you came!" Naraku happily called. "Kagome, Sango is upstairs if you want to go to her. I need to talk to your man for a little bit." Kagome nodded and fled upstairs to find her friend. Sango was chatting with Miroku and a few people that Kagome recognized from school but didn't really know.

"Kagome, you made it," Sango said happily. She nodded shyly, nervously examining the circle of people around them. "Where's Sesshomaru?"

"Naraku had to talk to him about something so he pointed me towards you," Kagome answered.

"Hey, beautiful," a familiar voice said. Kagome visibly winced and turned to face Koga. "You want to go downstairs and dance with me?" he asked with a wolfish grin.

"I don't dance," she mumbled. "Nonsense!" Koga interrupted, grabbing her wrist and dragging her away before she could protest. Sango had missed the entire exchange because of the noise and thought that Kagome had left willingly, so no one could save her just then. "Koga please let me go."

Instead he suddenly turned and started grinding up on her to the music. "Koga, please stop!" she said, eyes tearing up.

"Not stealing her all for yourself, are you?" Naraku asked. "My party, I get to call the dance partners." Naraku shoved Koga off, but instead of letting her go as she had hoped, he simply replaced him. Kagome tried to pull away and Naraku just wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer.

"Naraku, let go of me!" she cried.

"Aw, be hospitable why don't'cha?" he said with a wicked smile. A tear slipped down her face and he sighed and released her. "If you ever get tired of dog boy, swing my way." With one last evilly mischievous smile he walked away. Kagome fought more tears and then ran through the crowd to find Sesshomaru. She found him and almost started crying again.

Kagura, her sister Kanna, and the school whore Yura were all surrounding him, trying to catch his eye. Yura's shirt was so low she might as well have not been wearing one, the same with all of their skirts. Sesshomaru pushed Kagura off of him only to be stopped by Kanna. Kagome walked past them and wrapped her arms around his waist and Sesshomaru pulled her to him, earning her several heated death glares from the demonesses. Kagome looked around and swallowed. Other girls like these three were lying all over people on a few couches. Is that how Sesshomaru wanted her to act? Is this what he expected?

"If you will excuse me ladies…" Sesshomaru pulled Kagome closer and walked out of the room. He led her to the backyard where there were still a ton of people, but less music so it was a little quieter. They went around a corner to the side of the house where the guests had not yet infiltrated and Sesshomaru hugged Kagome close and sat on a bench. "Are you okay? I know that this isn't really your thing."

"I'm fine. Were those girls giving you a hard time?"

"They give me a hard time everywhere I go, though not as _hard _as you do." Kagome blushed and pulled away from him. "I'm sorry," he said with a laugh. "I need to remember who I'm talking to about what." Kagome laughed to and Sesshomaru kissed her. The kiss went from sweet to passionate in a matter of moments and Sesshomaru wrapped a clawed hand behind her head to rake it through her hair and pull her closer. Kagome swung a leg over his hips and sat up to straddle him. This shocked Sesshomaru but it didn't last long as their kiss deepened and he felt himself growing. Kagome felt it too but chose to ignore it as she leaned over and kissed his neck. "Kagome, what are you doing?" he asked breathlessly, wrapping his hands around her waist.

She didn't answer him but continued her attack of his neck. He suddenly realized that she was doing this because of Kagura. "Kagome stop," he ordered. When she didn't he growled and pulled her away from him. "You need to stop this before I can't," he told her.

"Who says that I want you to?" she asked, trying to kiss him again. Sesshomaru held a hand to her mouth to stop her.

"Trust me, now is not the time nor is here the place. You are not ready for me follow through on this." Kagome nodded and pulled herself off of him. She left to find Sango. Thankfully she found her right as she was getting ready to leave.

"Take me home?" Miroku nodded. Kagome turned to Naraku and said, "Will you tell Sesshomaru that I got a ride and I'll see him later." Naraku nodded and watched her leave.

_I should have known that after Kagura and them he'd never actually want me, _she thought sadly as she drifted off to sleep that night.


	8. Of Old Flames and New Loves

Chapter 8: Of Past Flames and New Loves

Sesshomaru growled to himself, tempted to forget all dignity and bang his head against the wall. Kagome had broken up with Inuyasha as he had hoped, but what he had not bargained for was her sudden dislike of him. The only time she ever spoke to him was when they discussed their Literature project and then conversations were kept short and business-like. He had tried to get her to tell him what was eating her but she just evaded the question and changed the subject. And now the object of all of his problems was sitting a foot away in class and he couldn't speak to her. The bell rang and she was gone faster than he would have believed. _I never should have brought her to that party, _he thought angrily. All of his problems seemed to stem from that night. His best friend now obviously wanted his girlfriend and his girlfriend wouldn't even look at him. When he walked into the hallway and saw Koga talking to her he didn't bother to keep the growl to himself.

"So Friday at seven?" Koga asked. Kagome flashed him a small smile and nodded and they went their separate ways. Koga looked over his shoulder to smile smugly at Sesshomaru before going to class. Sesshomaru quickly grabbed her before she could go into Economics. If he were going to get answers from her it would have to be now before they entered his father's room or Sesshomaru would never hear the end it.

"What it going on with you? Are you going on a date with him?" he demanded, eyes momentarily flashing red.

"And if I am?" she snapped, unusually vehement as she glared sharply up at him.

"What about me?" he snapped back, angry but sad. "You finally leave Inuyasha and then decide to go out with that wolf? I thought that you hated him! Why are you doing this to me?"

"Why am I doing what to you?" she asked.

"You said that you would stay with me, but you haven't spoken to me in a week and now you're leaving me for that bastard!" he snapped. His beast was roaring at him to kill the wolf that had dared to touch what was his. _She's not mine and apparently never was, _he thought angrily. But his beast just snarled back, _Mine!_

"I have to go to class and so do you," she said coldly. "What I choose to do with my time is of no concern to you, Sesshomaru." Before he could find his voice to object she had yanked her arm out of his grasp and walked away. She walked away proudly and strongly, but he could smell the salt. She was crying.

She was sitting across the room from where she usually was in Economics and his father looked at him confusedly as he noted this. Sesshomaru just shook his head at him, not wanting to answer any questions about what had happened, considering the fact that he himself did not know what was going on.

Friday was when all hell truly broke loose in Sesshomaru's life. "Class, we have a new student with us. This is Sarra Asano." Sesshomaru suddenly found that he couldn't breathe when he looked up to meet those perfect brown eyes. Sarra was his first girlfriend who had moved to America over a year before. Not wanting any tension or awkwardness she had left him a note explaining that parting without tears or farewells would be best and never said good-bye in person…and broken his heart. Kagome noticed the strange way that Sesshomaru's eyes lit up when he saw her and the way all of his muscles tensed as she walked past with a warm, too friendly smile.

Sesshomaru was torn. A week ago he was certain that he was falling in love with Kagome, but now his mind was drawn to years of memories and happiness with Sarra, his first love. Tonight Kagome was going on her date with Koga and he could feel jealously burning underneath his skin, but at the same time all he wanted was to hold Sarra and ask why she had left him. Both of his loves were sitting in the same room and he didn't know what to do about either of them. After class he smelled her familiar, soothing vanilla scent as Sarra approached him.

"Sesshomaru, it's been awhile," she said somewhat nervously. Sesshomaru nodded, not knowing what to say to her after all of this time. Did she still feel the same about him? Did he still feel the same about her? His emotions were running in millions of different directions and he didn't know what to say or do about any of them. He barely even knew how to process what he was feeling, much vocalize it or act on it. "I wanted to apologize for how badly I handled things when I left. It was childish and selfish and I realize that. I hope that you can forgive me." He nodded again. "I was wondering if you would want to get together and catch up, for old times' sake?"

Kagome stopped to listen to them outside of the classroom door and stiffened in jealousy when he had agreed. Who was this girl and how did she so easily capture Sesshomaru when people had told Kagome that she was the first girl he had ever had a positive reaction to?

Kagome spent all of AP Lit trying to fight tears, but Sesshomaru was not fooled. He could tell that something had greatly upset her, but he didn't know what. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly. They were supposed to be working on their projects, but they had finished theirs the day before, so he decided to use the opportunity.

"I'm fine," she said quietly, a slight quiver creeping into her voice.

"Don't lie to me. What's wrong, Kagome? What's been wrong all week?" he pressed, desperate to know what it was that was so deeply separating them. She turned away, but he caught her chin and turned her back to him. "Don't look away from me! Answer me!" he hissed. "What happened? I thought that things were finally working out with us, then all of this!"

"How about this: I don't ask you about your lady friends and you don't ask me about anything?" Sesshomaru was speechless. Lady friends? Then it dawned on him. Sarra.

"You mean Sarra?" he asked. She didn't answer, but her silence was enough. "She was my girlfriend over a year ago. I loved her and she broke my heart." Kagome still wouldn't say anything to him. "Now you're making me repeat the process," he said with a sigh, releasing her face and turning away. Kagome had been slowly but steadily cracking open all of the old wounds Sarra had left over the last week as she became more and more distant. The bell rang and Kagome fled with Sesshomaru trudging after her.

"Hey, beautiful. Are you ready?" Kagome nodded shyly at Koga and walked with him out to his car. They went and saw a movie and then went and got ice cream. Kagome was actually shocked ay what a nice time she was having with him after the weeks of him being such a jerk. They had seen Kanna and Kagura at the movies and the two sisters had looked murderous as they saw her walking in with yet another highly sought-after demon. "Well, I guess it's time to call it a night," Koga said with a laugh as she began yawning uncontrollably. Kagome nodded sleepily as they pulled into the drive below the shrine. He moved to kiss her, but Kagome quickly ducked her head. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Not now, it's too soon," she answered softly. Koga unhappily nodded before slamming into his car and screeching down the road. Kagome sighed and went back to the shrine, wondering what Sesshomaru was doing.

That night he went over to Sarra's house to eat dinner with her family. He was happy to see her mother again and he discovered that her little brother still idolized him. They laughed happily and talked as though the last year had not happened. Sarra and Sesshomaru were watching a movie when Sarra finally decided to broach the painful topic of their past relationship.

"I know that I caused you pain and I'm sorry," she said. "I loved you and to some extent I still do. I could never forget you." Sesshomaru's heart thudded painfully in his chest. Did he go back to her or did he beg Kagome? Both actions lacked any dignity, but he would gladly do either. Sarra leaned over and lightly pressed her lips to his and—without thinking of any of the consequences—Sesshomaru gladly kissed her back, unconsciously making his decision.

A/N: I'm sure that you all hate me by now, but my love of soap operas had to throw even more drama into this. Sorry it's taken me so long to update this, but since I'm on Spring Break I will hopefully be able to appease you with another chapter shortly...though when I go back to school it's going to be slow updates again. Sorry. I hope you enjoyed this!


	9. Human Again?

Chapter 9: Human Again?

Kagome pretended that she didn't see when Sesshomaru arrived at school on Monday hand-in-hand with Sarra. No one in the school was surprised that they had gotten back together so quickly. It seemed that many people who had known them the year before had expected them to get married. Kagome also pretended that she didn't notice all of the attention that this seemed to bring to her. People whispered and snickered about how she had never stood a chance against the mysterious beauty. Kagome hadn't known that so many people were aware of her relationship with the handsome youkai.

"Hey, Kagome, wait up!" Koga called while she walked to class. She stopped and reluctantly turned to face him. She wasn't sure if she had ever done something that she regretted as much as her date with the wolf demon. He had called her twelve times on Saturday and eight times on Sunday and twice again this morning wanting to know if she wanted a ride to school...and she wasn't interested in him at all. "I was thinking about our date on Friday, and it was so great that I wanted to know if you would be interested in repeating the experience," he said with an obnoxious grin. The grin was cocky and he "knew" that she was going to say 'yes' to him. Kagome wanted to slap the smug expression off of his face.

"Koga, I'm sorry, but I can't," she said lamely. She cursed her lack of courage. She had had no problem telling off Sesshomaru, the one she wanted to keep around, why couldn't she say what she thought to Koga, the one she wished was on another continent.

He looked a little bit disappointed, but bounced right back and said, "How about some other time? When are you free?"

"Koga, I think Friday was a mistake," she whispered before turning to go to class. Sesshomaru was sitting beside Sarra in his usual seat, quietly talking to her. Sarra laughed and blushed at whatever he had said and he brushed a few stray hairs out of her face, not even noticing when Kagome sat down.

Kagome spent that entire day staring at the floor. She had never noticed how complex the tiles actually were. They were white and gray speckled, average and boring, but now she thought they were the most fascinating thing that she had ever seen...and more importantly they gave her something else to think about. She spent AP Literature trying to figure out how many tiles were in the room; she spent Economics finding patterns and pictures in the specks and dots around her desk; and she spent all of AP Physics turning the floor into a colossal mural of a magical forest, complete with fairies and ancient oak trees and majestic Spanish moss.

She ate lunch with Sango as always and discovered that the floor in the cafeteria looked like a city skyline. Sango talked to her obviously distracted friend, but couldn't bring herself to ask Kagome what was wrong because she already had a pretty good idea what.

Inuyasha was waiting inside the door of the Health room for her. "Kagome, wait. Can we talk about this one more time?" he pleaded. He had figured out that Kagome actually wasn't with his brother several days before and had pestered her almost as obsessively as Koga.

"Please don't, Inuyasha," she whispered, walking along a path that her mind imprinted on the random specks on the floor to her desk.

"Kagome, I made a terrible mistake and I'm so sorry," he begged. Sango walked into the room and wrapped an arm around Kagome's shoulders, giving Inuyasha a glare that should have screamed 'back off'. He didn't take the hint and continued begging. "I would do anything for that second chance that you said you were going to give me."

"How many times do I have to be hurt by your family?" Kagome hissed. "Just leave me alone!" This time Inuyasha did see the glare that Sango gave him and he decided to drop it for the day. He liked his face and had no desire to have Sango rearrange it anytime soon.

* * *

Sesshomaru kissed Sarra as he dropped her off at her house and went home. He had spent all weekend with her and couldn't he happier. She had changed in America and he still hadn't figured out what it was, but he was still overjoyed that she had returned and still wanted him. She had all but erased the wounds that Kagome had left in her wake. He had noticed earlier that day that she was unhappy, but he just told himself that it was her own fault for ditching him the day after they had gotten together. If she had wanted him she had had every opportunity to say so. It was her own fault that she was miserable.

At least that was what he told himself. He knew that it wasn't true and that Kagome couldn't have come out and said that she wanted him if her life depended on it. She had changed in the last few months, but she hadn't changed that much. He knew that something had upset her, but he had moved on and he knew that with time she would, too.

* * *

"Good morning, Kagome." Kagome shuddered and turned towards the familiar voice.

"Hello, Naraku," she said quietly. She didn't just dislike Sesshomaru's best friend, she _hated _him. She wasn't sure why, but he had always scared her. Unlike Koga and Inuyasha he didn't follow her and ask her out every time that he saw her, he just sat in the shadows and eyed her like a starving man looks at a steak and that bothered her more than anything else. In the past Sesshomaru would have knocked him out over that look, but now he didn't even know that she existed.

"Sesshomaru, I want to talk to you," his father said before he could leave Economics. Sesshomaru rolled his eyes and stayed in his desk while everyone else went to lunch. He had to go meet Sarra. "Sesshomaru, what are you doing?" his father asked him wearily. He had watched over the last three days the way that Kagome had been shrinking inside her skin to become even more meek and reserved than she had been in the beginning. His sons had caused her to open up and start acting normal, and now they were making her worse than ever.

"I don't know what you're talking about, father," he said blandly.

"You convince Kagome to break up with your brother--" Sesshomaru growled and his father sighed--"Half-brother. Then you two are obviously together one day, separated the next, and now you're sleeping with the girl who broke your heart. Don't give me that look. I have ears and I have a nose and I am well-aware that you were not studying last night." Sesshomaru inwardly grimaced at the thought of his father being so aware of his sex-life. "What happened?"

"I honestly don't know. Kagome didn't want me and Sarra begged me to take her back, so I chose the most logical relationship," he answered. "I'm sure that you can understand the advantage of being with the one that I like who likes me back instead of hopelessly chasing the one who can't stand me."

"You honestly think that she can't stand you?" his father asked, shocked at his son's complete blindness. "Go to lunch, she's waiting for you," he sighed. Sesshomaru gladly stood and left the room.

She sighed and sat at her lunch table, looking for the usual skyline and instead finding a vast jungle hidden in the tiles.

"Kagome, are you okay?" Sarra had been at school for three days and it was absolutely sickening to watch her and Sesshomaru.

"I'm fine. I always knew that it wasn't going to work with us. Why would the one of the most powerful demons in the province choose me when he has a beautiful demoness like Sarra waiting for him?" she said quietly. Sango frowned at her friend and looked across the room at Sarra.

"Kagome, Sarra is human," she said, wondering why her friend would say that. She had learned early on that Kagome's mother was a priestess and, among other things, Kagome had inherited her ability to sense demonic auras. Kagome dropped her fork and stared at her incredulously before turning to look at Sarra.

"What?" Kagome said.

"Sarra Asano is a human. That's why no one was shocked when he liked you, he's never dated a demoness." Kagome turned to stare at Sarra again and shook her head.

"I don't understand."

"Neither do I."

* * *

Sango had one class with Sarra at the very end of the day and she spent all of it staring at the beautiful girl. Why did Kagome say that she was a demoness? She didn't have red eyes, long hair, a stunning figure (though she certainly had a figure to make any girl jealous), and she seemingly had no powers that would betray her as a demoness. And if she was, surely Sesshomaru would have noticed by now that she wasn't really his Sarra. And Sango herself could not sense any aura coming from her, but Kagome had looked utterly shocked and confused when Sango had said that she was human.

She then spent the rest of the afternoon wracking her head for a way to find out if Kagome was right. She couldn't use any of her family's slayer smokes or powders because she would enrage any other demons around her and getting someone to attempt to purify her seemed like an even worse idea. She realized that she was just going to have to sit back and wait for something to happen that would prove or disprove their theories without her intervention.

_I just hope that I can figure this out soon._


	10. The Truth Revealed

Chapter 10: The Truth Revealed

Miroku rubbed his face where Sango had once again slapped him after catching him looking down her shirt during one of their study sessions. Inuyasha was sitting on the floor across from him and Shippo was happily sprawled on the couch. Kagome had said that she might come, so it still remained to be seen if she would appear. They had wanted her to come and help them with their math studies because she was a mathematical genius in their eyes.

Inuyasha flattened his ears to his head when he heard Sarra enter the front door. He had never liked his brother's giggling human girl and had been sorry to see her return. Though he had hoped that her return would give him a better chance with Kagome. He had certainly been wrong on that front. The only people who Kagome talked to anymore were Sango and Shippo. She was back to being afraid of everyone and everything around her.

* * *

"Sesshomaru, why don't you give me the grand tour of this place? It's been so long since I've really walked around it," Sarra said sweetly, serenely eying the graceful wood paneling and paintings along the walls. "If I remember correctly one of the studies has wonderful acoustics." Sesshomaru smiled, seeing her flute case sticking out of her backpack, and he remembered listening to her play for hours on end in the third floor study, the tall, arched ceilings and wooden walls making it all sound perfect. He nodded and took her hand and took her upstairs.

They wound up in that very study ten minutes later and Sesshomaru smiled while she put her flute together and blew a few test notes. A moment later she started playing and he closed his eyes as the familiar melody washed over him. This song was her favorite and she played it at least twice a day.

"Isn't there an art gallery on this floor?" she asked when she was done. Sesshomaru nodded and took her hand once again. He would never admit it to his father, but he actually loved the art gallery. For a moment he had an uncomfortable pang in his mind when he errantly thought that Kagome would love it as well. He was surprised that Sarra had wanted to see it. She didn't really like art that much and the only paintings in the house that she liked were on the first floor. "These are so beautiful," she breathed, examining a few pictures in a corner, surprising Sesshomaru. "There was an art museum near my house in America and people used to go there when there was nothing better to do. It made me realize how much I missed this house. Nothing compares to these."

She continued to wander down the hall, stopping to look at some occasional pictures and portraits, at last stopping in front of the last painting. It was a picture of his father in full armor with his demon swords, the tetsusaiga and tensaiga drawn and shining while he stood over legions of slain demons. The swords themselves, the most precious part of his and Inuyasha's inheritance, were against the back wall in a protected glass case alongside another case containing his father's armor.

"This really is a beautiful painting," she whispered before turning to him with glowing eyes and saying, "I'm sorry Sesshomaru, but now it's time for you to leave."

* * *

Kagome knew the moment that she arrived at the house that something was horribly wrong. Sesshomaru and Inuyasha's auras were flaring around a vaguely familiar aura in a far corner of the house. She quickly and anxiously walked inside and heard a distant bang echoing down the staircase. Kagome quickened her pace, ignoring the sinking feeling in her stomach that promised a fight. Powers that she had long tried to suppress and that had long been dormant were rising to the surface in reaction to the angry, powerful auras that were starting to press on her lungs as she climbed the stairs.

She heard another dull thud and Inuyasha shout in pain while Sango yelled and the floor shook beneath Kagome's feet. It seemed like it was against her will that Kagome's legs started moving faster, hurrying towards the commotion and power that her mind screamed she should be running away from.

She found them in the hallway of the third floor. There were gouges taken from the wood walls and dust floating thickly through the air. Sango was kneeling over an injured Inuyasha while Miroku stood defensively over them. Sesshomaru was squared off against...she squinted and gasped. It was Sarra, but she didn't look quite like Sarra. Her eyes glowed red and she wore armor and wielded some kind of darkly pulsing sword. Sesshomaru held something that looked like an acid green whip which he launched at her and she dodged it. The whip scorched and gouged the wall behind her while she laughed.

Sesshomaru just glared coldly at her, his perfect battle mask in place. Beneath the surface questions raged, first and foremost being how he had missed the fact that this wasn't Sarra Asano. The next was what had happened to the real Sarra. His mask slipped slightly when he found himself surrounded by a faint, pink light. He recognized it as miko energy, but it didn't hurt him. Instead it slipped over his body, soothing his sizzling nerves and cooling his overheated skin. Sarra on the other hand, didn't seem to find anything positive about the dazzling energy.

She shrieked, her sword dropping from her suddenly numb hand. She collapsed, completely paralyzed. "Sesshomaru, I think that you had questions for her," a gentle voice said from behind him and his eyes slid closed at that sound. Kagome had come to their rescue and she was giving him a chance to get the truth before this abomination died. Kagome was there behind him and supporting him. He felt his chest swell with some emotion that he couldn't name, but he held it in, telling himself to address everything else after he had destroyed this thing.

"I won't tell you anything," the demon spat.

"Yes she will, I can guarantee that," Kagome said quietly.

"Where is the real Sarra Asano?" he demanded.

"She went and got herself knocked up," the girl at his feet snapped. "Why do you think her mother was so desperate to drag her to America? She's married with a baby now and she's forgotten all about you," she said tauntingly. Sesshomaru's chest tightened in anger and he had to remind himself that it wasn't honorable to kick a downed and immobilized opponent.

"Why are you here?" he asked, keeping his voice even.

"I came to steal your swords," she answered.

"Why?"

"My sisters and I desired the power. We desired the world," she said. Her eyes were wide with panic while her mouth betrayed her every secret against her will. Kagome certainly was talented.

"Your sisters were the family that I met?" She nodded. "Well then, let your death serve as a warning for them not to return here," he said. He took his whip and slashed it across her body and she disintegrated with one last scream.

"You were right, she was a demoness," Sango whispered in absolute awe and the pink energy slowly receded into Kagome's body.

"You knew?" Sesshomaru said incredulously. How had Kagome seen it when Sesshomaru could not feel the slightest trace of a demonic aura.

She weakly nodded as the color drained out of her face. "Kagome!" Sango said as her knees buckled. Sesshomaru darted forward and caught her before she could hit the floor. "Put her in the guest room," Sango said in a panic. Sesshomaru shook his head as he focused and became a glowing ball of demonic energy.

Kagome would awake eventually and when she did they both had a lot of talking to do.


	11. Reconciliation

Kagome slept for almost eleven hours. Sesshomaru paced anxiously for all of them and checked the clock in the hallway at least ten thousand times as he waited for her to wake. He could feel her energy growing, so he knew she was recovering from the fight, but it did nothing to ease his crackling nerves. He wouldn't feel satisfied about her health until she was awake and told him herself that she was perfectly fine. And then he'd still want to check himself.

It was in those eleven hours that he did some real soul searching about his relationships of the past year. He had loved Sarra Asano, and she had apparently cheated on him, gotten pregnant, and left him to marry her other man. The heartbreak he had felt when she first left was raw and fresh in his mind. She was married with a child and didn't even think twice about him anymore. People had thought that he would be the one to marry Sarra and this was where they'd ended up.

And this was where _he'd _ended up… in a room with the girl he loved now and moping about the girl he'd loved last year. Sarra had forgotten about him, but did Kagome still want him? She had come to save him, and he couldn't forget the way he'd felt when he realized that she was there supporting him and helping him and watching out for him. No matter what, if she'd truly hated him she never would've done that. He swore to himself that they would not leave his family's beach house until Kagome had admitted why she had been so angry with him in the first place and he had found a way to resolve it. She wanted him—he could feel that much when he kissed her—but something was stopping her and he was determined to destroy whatever it was once and for all.

_Mine? _his inner demon asked quietly. Sesshomaru nodded and felt his inner demon almost purr with satisfaction at the idea.

"Huh? What the…? Where on earth am I?" Sesshomaru was beside her before she could blink.

"You're okay," he said, feeling more relief than he dared show. "Are you hurt at all?"

"No, I'm just tired. Where am I? What happened? Why am I here with you?" When she reached that last thought she stiffened and angled her body slightly away from him, glaring at the opposite wall.

"You fainted when that…that…_creature _died," he said, unable to find a word in his vocabulary to describe the monstrosity that had broken into his home. Explaining the damage in the art gallery to his father was going to be about as pleasant as the imminent argument with Kagome. "I brought you here to rest and to talk."

"I'm rested and I'm ready to go home," she answered angrily.

"No," he said sternly. "I will take you home after we have a very long chat about what exactly has been going on for the last few weeks." Kagome just stared ahead, nerves making her face look drawn and strained. "Oh, come on, Kagome. I know when you get mad at me you have more to say than that," he snapped at her. "So go ahead. I've been anxious to hear this one for weeks."

"You went back to you ex-girlfriend the moment she walked through the door!" Kagome burst out. The moment the sentence was done she bit her lip; she had obviously surprised herself with the blunt explosion. Sesshomaru rolled his eyes exasperatedly.

"It took me a day or two to decide to do that you know," he said. "What can I say? The girl I had been dating wouldn't give me the time of day and then made plans with another guy right in front of my face. You both really are lucky I didn't kill him, by the way." Kagome's head jerked up involuntarily at that comment. "Oh, believe me, I wanted to." Kagome looked down again. "So keep going. You're still mad, and I'm still waiting. You were mad at me before Sarra."

"Why are you doing this?" she whispered, tears gathering in her eyes. "Why do you keep doing this to me?'

"Doing what?" he snapped, then stopped when he realized how hurt she looked. "Oh, Kagome, please don't cry. I'm not trying to hurt you." He moved to wrap an arm around her and sighed when she jerked away from him, not wanting to touch him at all. "I just want to know what happened. You said 'yes' to me and seemed happy, and then it took you a day to start hating me. I never figured it out. It's been driving me crazy."

"Would you stop acting like you want me and just take me home!" she suddenly yelled. Sesshomaru fell backwards. It was the loudest tone he had ever heard her use and he was shocked. Stop _acting _like he wanted her? When he had never wanting anything so much in his life? What was she talking about?

"What the hell?" he asked. "Who says I'm acting? Kagome, I've wanted you since the first time I met you." She didn't look like she believed him and just glared at the wall again. "What would make you say that?"

Millions of thoughts swirled in her head. Questions she wanted to ask, accusations she wanted to make, but she couldn't do it. She was already being more emotional and open with him than she'd ever been with anyone. How was she supposed to point out Kanna and Kagura and Yura and every other girl who followed him? How was she supposed to explain that she felt completely unwantable when she compared herself to them?

Sesshomaru was at a loss for words as well and did the one he could think of to make her understand how he felt; he kissed her. Kagome gasped and he eagerly took advantage of the opening. Kagome felt her stomach melt; she had missed kissing him so much. Sesshomaru ran his claws through her hair, careful not to scratch her, and deepened the kiss, pulling himself to sit on the bed beside her. Kagome felt all of her questions die, just wanting to enjoy this while it lasted.

In the end it was Sesshomaru who broke the kiss. He rested his forehead against hers and tried to control his suddenly erratic breathing and heart rate. "I think that should settle the question of whether or not I want you," he finally said, nuzzling into her ear. "I love you, Kagome. And I have for a long time," he quietly confessed.

"I thought that—I thought that you wanted Kagura," she said, her own quiet confession. "That's why I was angry."

"Kagura?" he asked, fighting laughter. He lost the fight and let a chuckle slip. "Kagome, I can assure you that Kagura is the last person on this earth that I would even consider touching. I can't stand her." Now he really did laugh and Kagome put in her own slight chuckle. "Why did you think that?"

"I saw you two at the party and then when you rejected me—" "Is that what it was?" he cut her off. "Kagome, I was barely hanging onto my self control after the way you were acting that night. I told you then that it wasn't the time or the place. And I knew that you were only acting that way as a response to Kagura. I wasn't sure if it was what you really wanted."

"And if I told you that it was?" she whispered so quietly Sesshomaru was sure he wasn't supposed to have heard her. She wasn't blushing so he guessed that that comment wasn't meant for him, though it had shredded his self control to hear her say it.

"I want us to try this again," he told her. "I still want you."

"I want to try, too," she admitted quietly.

"I'll take you home now and I'll see you at school tomorrow." He leaned down and kissed her and led her out of the house, flying away back towards the shrine.

_Tomorrow, Kagome, _he thought as he carried her. _Tomorrow we'll start over._

* * *

**Sorry that it took so long for me to update this. I started college and I've been so busy that it slipped my mind for awhile. I hope that you all like this chapter and I promise to write a new one very soon!**


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